Chinese bombers training to hit US targets, says Pentagon report

China’s air force is "likely" training for bombing strikes against the US and its allies, according to a Pentagon report released on Thursday.

The report claimed that training runs by H-6K bombers, which can carry nuclear payloads, are intended to demonstrate the Far-Eastern country’s ability to strike US territories and allied forces in the Pacific, as well as to develop their ability to target locations as far away from China as possible.

A dozen missions saw the air force fly over the Sea of Japan, into the Western Pacific, around Taiwan, and over the East and South China Sea, all potential flashpoints.

Comparatively, 2016 and 2015 saw only four flights in each year.

One training run in August last year saw six of the bombers fly through the Miyako Strait between Japanese sovereign islands before turning to fly towards Okinawa, where 47,000 US troops are based.

"Over the last three years, the People's Liberation Army has rapidly expanded its overwater bomber operating areas, gaining experience in critical maritime regions and likely training for strikes against US and allied targets," said the report.

The report also noted the transformation of China’s ground forces and estimated Beijing’s military spending as having exceeded $190bn in 2017, still paling in comparison to the over $700bn spent by the US annually, although some commentators stress that in purchasing power terms China's outlays may be understated.

President Xi Jinping last year ordered the modernisation of the PLA, which at almost 1.0m troops is the world’s largest standing ground force.

"The purpose of these reforms is to create a more mobile, modular, lethal ground force capable of being the core of joint operations and able to meet Xi Jinping’s directive to ‘fight and win wars," the report noted.

The Pentagon’s annual reports on China’s military have riled tensions between the two nations in the past, with Beijing calling last year’s report "irresponsible" after it predicted that China would seek to establish overseas military bases in countries such as Pakistan.

Military relations between the two nations have already been tested this year, with the US withdrawing China’s invitation to join multinational naval exercises in May.